Safety-lock for elevators.



No. 790,678.' PATENTED MAY 23, 1905.

- L. GHRISTIANSEN. A

SAFETY LOCK PGR ELEVATORS.

APPLIOATION FILED DEO.`12, 1904.

MHH mn "Il" IMT UNITED STATES Patented May 23, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

SAFETY-LCK FOR ELEVATORS- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 790,678, dated May 23, .1905. Application filed December 12,1904.Serial Nox 236,170.

To all whom/it Irl/ay concern:

Be it known that I, LUDWIG CHRISTIAN- sEN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and StateofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSafety-Locks for Elevators; and I do hereby declare the following tobe afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to Which it appertains to make and use thesame.

The present invention relates to improvements in safety-locks forelevators. y

It is customary to control the movements of elevators by a rope or wirecable hanging in the elevator-well and passing through or beside theelevator-car, the rope being grasped by the operator and pulled up ordown, according to the direction in which it is desired to cause the carto move.l In order to prevent accidental movement of the car when it isstanding at a door and receiving or discharging freight, it is customaryto provide the elevator with a device for locking the controlling-rope,so that the rope cannot be moved either from accidental causes or by aperson standing at another door.

The object of the present invention is to reorganize and improve suchdevices in the respects hereinafter pointed out; and to this end theinvention consists in the improved safety-lock hereinafter described andclaimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a device embodying thepresent invention, and Fig. 2 is a similar view with the nearer half ofthe casing removed. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line Fig. 1,showing the interior mechanism in plan 5 and Fig. 4 isA an elevation ofthe finger-lever looking from right to left in Fig. 2.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention is designed to be secured bysuitable means tothe elevator-car'and has an opening through which Athecontrollingrope passes. Thesize of this opening is varied by slidinggates, and at each floor the elevatorrope is provided with two or moreknobs fixed thereto. The size of the opening in the lock is normallysufficient to permit the knobs to shank 9.

pass freely therethough; but when it is desired to lock the elevator inplace the gates are closed upon the rope between two of the knobs, whichare secured upon the rope close together and in proper position withrespect to the floor at which the elevator stops. When the gates areclosed in this manner, the controlling-rope cannot be moved up or down.As the present invention relates to improvements in the form andconstruction of the lock alone and as its general mode of operation, asabove described, is familiar in the art to which this invention relates,the drawingsY show only the construction of the lock, and it will beunderstood that the lock cooperates with the rope and the knobs in theordinary manner and that the look is Inounted and secured in the car byany usual or suitable means.

A casing 1 incloses the working parts of the Adevice and comprises twosimilar parts secured together by screws 2. The casing has funnel-shapedportions 3, through which the rope asses, and a stem 4., by which it issecure to ythe elevator-car, the stem being iiXed in a suitable columnor bracket. The

-gates 5 and 6 are arranged to slide in a central slotted portion 7 ofthe casing, and the means by which they are actuated are arranged in anovel andcompact manner. The gate 5 is in the form of a bail, having twoparallel side membersS, and the gate 6 is arranged to slide between theside members 8 and in the same plane as the gate 5. The gate 6 has astraight shank 9, and the side members 8 are bent inward close to theshank 9 and then again parallel therewith, `so as to form two parallelshanks 10, between which the shank 9 is embraced and slides. Two lugs 11on the'shanks 10 are engaged by a plate 12, forming part of afinger-lever 14, pivoted at 13 in the casing and provided with ashoulder 15, engaging a lug 16 on the In the drawings the gates are intheir closed position; but if the finger-lever be drawn to the right, asshown in dotted lines, Fig. 2, the plate 12 and shoulder 15 will forcethe lugs 16 and 11 away from each other and move the shanks 9 and 10longitudinally with respect both to each other and to the casing 1,thereby moving the gates to their open position and leaving the opening17 (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3)"free Jfor the passage of the knobson the elevator-rope. The gates are closed when the iingerelever isreturned to its left-hand position by a spring 1S engaging at one end alug 19 on the gate 6 and at the other end a plate 20, resting againstthe lugs 11, connected through the shanks 10 with the gate 5. The weightof the fingerlever tends to hold it in either position until it is movedby the operator, and when the gates are closed accidental movement ofthe finger-lever is resisted by the lugs pressing under the influence ofthe spring against the plate 12 and shoulder 15. When the iingerlever isin its right-hand position and the gates are open, the iinger-lever hasno tendency to move back and permit the gates to close, as the pressureof the lugs 11 and 16 against the plate 12- and shoulder 15 issubstantially in the same line.

The relative arrangement of the gates and the linger-lever makes a verycompact device and eliminates all lateral thrust on the gates and theirshanks, so that the parts move easily, with no tendency to bind. As themechanism is all on one side of the rope, the lock can be used in veryclose quarters*as, for instance, where the controlling rope runs verynear the side of the corner of the car and the swinging movement of theiinger-lever in a vertical plane makes the device convenient for theoperator and contributes, as above described, to the security of thedevice by making the weight of the finger-lever available to maintainthe lever in the position in Which it is placed. A single spring servesto move the gates simultaneously in opposite directions and also to holdthe inger-lever in position, and since the thrust of the lugs 11 and 16against the plate 12 and the shoulder 15 is balanced there is no lateralpressure on the pivots 13 and the wear on the pivots is very slight.

I claim* 1. A'saiety-lock 'for elevators, having, in combination, acasing, two gates arranged te slide in opposite directions therein, thegates lying in the same plane and having parallel shanks, a pivotediinger-lever engaging lugs on the shanks and acting to force them apartand open the gates, and a spring acting to close the gates when thefinger-lever is operated to release the lugs, substantially asdescribed.

2. A safety-lock for elevators, having, in combination, a easing, abail-shaped gate arranged to slide therein and having parallel sidemembers and shanks, a cooperating gate arranged to slide between theside members of the bail-shaped gate and having a shank lying betweenthe shanks of the said gate, lugs on the shanks of the gates, and meansfor engaging the lugs and moving the gates simultaneously and inopposite directions te open or close the gates, substantially asdescribed.

3. A safety-lock for elevators, having, in

combination, a casing, two gates arranged to slide in the easing, one ofthe gates being bailformed and. the other gate being arranged to slidebetween the side members of tlwfl'ormer, two parallel Shanks on thebail-shaped gate., the shank on the other gate lying between the saidshanks, lugs on. the Shanks, a pivoted linger-lever engaging the lugsand. arranged to swing in a vertical plane and to move the lugssimultaneously in opposite directions to open the gates, and a spring toclose the gates substantially as described.

In testimonywhereof I a'ilixmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

LUDWIG CHRISTIAN SEN Witnesses FRED O. Fisn, Hormon VAN EVEREN.

